May 8–10in & around Coastal Alabama & Northwest Florida

Pensacola Navy Days kicks off downtown at Plaza DeLuna. The three-day program celebrates Pensacola's deep Navy ties with ship tours, public ceremonies, and concerts woven through the weekend. Free and open to the public; programming continues Saturday and Sunday.

A historical commemoration of the 1781 Battle of Pensacola and General Bernardo de Gálvez's role in it. The ceremony is downtown at Plaza Ferdinand and pairs with Pensacola Navy Days as part of the same weekend of historical programming. Free.

Trio plays Portside Friday evening at The Wharf in Orange Beach. The Portside Pavilion is purpose-built for outdoor concerts in this kind of weather -- open-air, low-pressure, and easy to walk in and out of with a drink.

Local favorites Thicc and Thinn play Derailed Diner Friday at 5 PM. The diner is a small, character-forward Gulf Shores room that books live music thoughtfully -- worth showing up early since the seating fills quickly.

The Pensacola Navy Days Parade rolls Saturday morning through downtown Pensacola. Free, family-friendly, and one of the centerpiece community moments of the Navy Days program -- lining up early on the route is the move.

Foley Civic Center hosts Welcome Back Monarchs Day, a community-focused morning program centered on monarch butterflies and pollinator gardens. It's a low-key, kid-friendly event timed to the spring migration.

The Hope Farm in Fairhope runs a hands-on biscuit class Saturday at noon -- buttermilk biscuits and tea biscuits, timed deliberately for Mother's Day weekend. The Barn is a working farm setting and the class size is small, so registration ahead is required.

Gulf Babe hosts a Saturday-morning pilates session at Portside paired with a prosecco toast after. It's billed as the kind of pre-Mother's Day morning that doubles as a girls' weekend kickoff.

Colton Wadkins plays a Saturday afternoon set at Portside starting at noon. It pairs naturally with lunch at the surrounding Wharf restaurants and runs as the kind of long, easy daytime gig the venue is built for.

Saturday afternoon in downtown Pensacola, this Mother's Day-themed class teaches boozy ice cream cocktails -- exactly the demographic crossover it sounds like. Reservations required; class sizes are deliberately small.

The Gulf Bowl in Foley pairs Mother's Day brunch service with bowling lanes and the Captain's Choice seafood menu. It's the Mother's Day option for moms who'd rather knock down strikes than sit through a prix fixe -- which, for some moms, is exactly the point.

Seville Quarter hosts a 60s-themed murder mystery brunch for Mother's Day Sunday morning -- interactive, costumed, and built around Pensacola's most layered downtown entertainment complex. Worth dressing the part.

A Sunday-morning Mother's Day cruise leaving Pensacola Beach -- water-level, on-board, and a different angle on the holiday than the standard restaurant brunch. Boarding times and ticket details through the operator.

Five Sisters Blues Café in Pensacola serves a Mother's Day brunch in their historic Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood dining room. The café's everyday menu skews Southern soul food, and the Mother's Day version typically expands on that base.

Gulf Babe Wine Boutique in Orange Beach hosts a Mother's Day afternoon candle-making session. Pairs the activity with the boutique's wine list -- Mom picks her scent, picks her wine, takes home both. Reservations required.

Lefty Collins closes out the weekend at Derailed Diner Sunday evening at 5 PM -- a quieter, end-of-the-weekend slot at the same Gulf Shores room that opened the weekend with Thicc and Thinn.